


Witch Princess

by PotionsMistressM



Category: Dark Visions - L. J. Smith
Genre: Community: ljschallenge100, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-08
Updated: 2013-11-07
Packaged: 2017-12-31 20:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1035980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotionsMistressM/pseuds/PotionsMistressM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of drabbles centered on Kait, written for livejournal's ljschallenge100.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Can't Always Get What You Want

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** #1- Love  
>  **Summary:** Joyce offers Kait the opportunity to go to the Institute

Kaitlyn looked at the pretty woman with the aquamarine eyes and felt her heart drop. Joyce was offering her all she’d always wanted- people to accept her, an adeventure, the money for college she knew she wouldn’t have otherwise.

And she couldn’t take it.

Everything she’d always longed for was being offered up on a silver platter, and there was absolutely no way she could have any of it. Because no matter what she wanted, she knew what her father needed. She couldn’t leave him; he needed her, and she loved him more than she loved herself.

“I can’t go.”


	2. God's Gonna Cut You Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaitlyn + Death = Gloom (Prompt #2: Death)

Kaitlyn Brady Fairchild had grown up being annoyed by two things. The first was her middle name. Even setting aside _Brady Bunch_ references, the name bothered her. It had been her mother’s maiden name, and it was like a slow-turning knife in her back. Every time anyone had cause to say her full name it reminded her just how very dead her mother was.

The second thing that had consistently annoyed Kaitlyn was God.

She’d never go so far as to hate God, and she surely would never be so blasphemous as to question his existence, but every day, ever since her mother’s death, she couldn’t help but be utterly annoyed by a deity who’d thought it fitting to abandon a child.


	3. Brightly Wound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang finds the white house (Prompt #3: Coming of Age)

Jumping up and down like a lunatic, Kaitlyn grabbed Anna’s arms, and the two of them danced excitedly. Behind her Lewis whooped. Rob beamed and pumped his fist in the air like a cowboy waving his hat after a rodeo. Gabriel allowed himself to smile. And Lydia...

Well, she didn’t really care about Lydia, now did she?

All through the web the group’s excitement and happiness surged and glittered, and Kaitlyn could scarcely take the time to acknowledge the tiny niggling fear that was beginning to creep up through the celebration as she swung around and kissed Lewis on the cheek.

She would think about getting to the white house as soon as she got over _finding_ the white house.


	4. Big Girls Don't Cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal = bad (Prompt #4: Pain)

Kaitlyn did not cry. Not when she was happy, not when she was sad, and definitely not when she was hurt. In fact, people hardly ever knew when she was in pain. She remembered very clearly one day in fifth grade when the class bully and her little entourage had decided it was time to teach the witch a lesson. The beating had lasted throughout the entirety of recess, and even though Kait had emerged bloody and bruised, she’d also emerged _smiling_.

But the crystal...

The crystal was pain like she’d never experienced, and, through tears, she screamed Gabriel’s name.


	5. Born on the Fourth of July

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever notice how many flags are red, white, and blue? (Prompt #5: Color)

She knew where it had started- people thinking she had an attitude problem- and though Kaitlyn had never been an exceptional student, she had always been too smart for her own good.

So, yes, she knew when it started.

She had only been a sweet little old lady; she had only had a compliment in mind. But when, at the annual Thoroughfare Memorial Day parade, the old woman had made a comment about how seven-year-old Kait’s pale white skin, witchy blue eyes, and flame red hair made the little girl look like the very flag she was waving, Kait could not hold her tongue.

“More like France’s.”


	6. Bleeding Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kait decides to infiltrate the Institute (Prompt #6: Blood)

In the heat of the fight no one seemed to notice when Kait gasped suddenly, a pinprick stab of pain tearing her gaze from the group and back to the crystal she was still clutching tightly to her chest. The little pink smudge of Gabriel's blood was still there, though it was drying and fading, but Kait narrowed her eyes- in annoyance as much as pain- as she watched a drop of her own blood mingled with Gabriel's.

And her heart sank. She knew what she had to do, and she knew none of them would approve. But Gabriel needed her, and whether she would ever admit it or not, she knew she needed Gabriel.


	7. Idiot Boyfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boys only want one thing from the local witch (Prompt #7: Endings)

She should have known it was coming- and if she was honest she probably had- but it still hurt. Sure, the only thing he'd ever wanted to do was watch football... or talk about football... or play football... or talk about the time the Thoroughfare/Bay Village game was on Ohio Sports Network and he'd been able to watch himself playing football. And yeah, he'd always wanted to drive up to Huntington in that stupid junky car he'd been way too proud of to "watch the sunset."

But still...

It still sucked to have him turn on her- call her _witch_.


	8. Unfold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kait wants to make a fresh start (Prompt #8: Beginnings)

California was going to a new start. She'd decided. No matter what happened, it was going to be different- she was going to be different. No more hiding, no more shyness. She was going to be bright and fun and popular. She was going to be uninhibited. Everyone would love her.

Leaning back as Joyce sped down the highway, Kaitlyn closed her eyes and felt the wind whip through her hair. She smiled as she opened her eyes again, taking in the alien scenery.

California was going to be different. It just had to be.

_Goodbye, old life. Good riddance._


	9. Under Your Spell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why you should never have naughty thoughts when other people can read yours (Prompt #9: Spells)

From underneath her lashes, Kaitlyn could only get a skewed view of Gabriel, but she couldn't risk looking straight at him now. Even though she knew the others could sense a kind of echo of her thoughts, she had become quite adept at walling off her... _private_ thoughts. But to do that, she had to concentrate, and if something happened to break that concentration...

Kaitlyn felt herself blush, operation no-naughty-thoughts eliminated in the blink of an eye. The blink of a super sexy eye, one that happened to be the color of an angry summer sky. She may have known how to hide her thoughts from the others, but she should have known that she could never hide from Gabriel. Smirking, he turned his head slightly toward her and winked.


	10. Ohio Is For Lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kait takes Gabriel home to meet Dad. (Prompt #10: Family)

"Oh, yeah. It's just as picturesque as you described it."

Kait rolled her eyes. _Here we go again_ , she thought testily as she picked up her duffel bag from the baggage carousel.

"We haven't even left the airport yet," she reminded Gabriel, though she knew the immediate vicinity of Hopkins International would do nothing to negate his first impression. He had never wanted to leave California, but it was Kait's dad's birthday, and she hadn't wanted to make the flight on her own.

 _And what Kaitlyn wants, Kaitlyn gets_ , he thought, though his anger was quickly quelled by the fantastical vision the thought of her still brought to the front of his mind.

Though a witch-princess probably never would have flown into Cleveland.

Gabriel hefted his bag and shuffled his weight. He planned on actively not having a good time, but his resolve faltered as soon as the frail, mustached man appeared in front of them.

"Daddy!"

Somehow the sight of Kaitlyn running into her father's arms made even the long trip and drab locale well worth it.


	11. That Old Black Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis uses his power for fun and profit. (Prompt #11: Magic)

Kaitlyn would have given pretty much anything to be spared from what she could only assume would be a truly nightmarish evening. But she kept a brave face, settling next to Anna as Gabriel made sure his disapproval was well documented by squeezing into the auditorium seat next to Kait as noisily as possibly. Even Rob was not looking forward to the entertainment, and for him not to be totally suppportive of Lewis was as much a warning to stay away as anyone should have needed.

When the lights in the auditorium dimmed, Kait could only pray that the performance wouldn't be a trainwreck. Some time ago Lewis had decided that he could use his power for fun and profit by hiring himself out as a party magician, and even though she would rather have stabbed herself in the eye with a pencil, Kait had agreed to support him. Tonight was to be his first performance, and Kait was determined to be positive. But she still couldn't keep herself from laughing when Gabriel elbowed her in the ribs and muttered a joke.

"Anyone here have PK? Raise my hand."


	12. Where the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kait has offered to give Gabriel energy (Prompt #12: Sunrise/Sunset)

Kaitlyn sat alone outside the van watching the sky change around her and thinking idly that if this were a movie, she'd be holding a cigarette and looking wistfully eastward. Instead, she was sitting Indian-style, crunched against the side of the vehicle, pants wet from dew, glaring angrily back in the direction where she'd left Gabriel. The man was impossible- denying her every effort to help him, to give him what he needed. She knew it couldn't be easy for him, his powers always making him an outsider, and she knew firsthand how excruciating trusting people again could be, but as she watched the sun climb slowly in the sky, she couldn't help but feel a little bit of that old Hollywood wistfulness.

Of any of them, he should be able to trust _her_.


	13. The Sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kait watches Gabriel in Mr. Zetes' basement (Prompt #13: Rebirth)

Kaitlyn watched while Gabriel was tortured, disgust, terror, and hatred roiling in her stomach. In her head, panic and helplessness- fight and flight- wrestled for dominance. Sweat gathered on her forehead and made her ever-clenching fists slippery.

Gabriel cried out in pain and Kaitlyn's red-rimmed eyes flew from his huddled form on the floor to settle into a narrow gaze at Mr. Zetes. Suddenly, there was no decision to be made.

Kaitlyn launched herself forward, teeth bared and fists flying. Given the choice between fight and flight, there was only ever one option for Kaitlyn Fairchild. There was a reason people thought she had an attitude problem.


	14. Crazy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marisol is scary (Prompt #14: Showdown)

Even when she closed her own eyes, all she could see was those massive brown ones glaring down at her, that smug lip twisted up into a snarl. Even when she wanted to forget, all she could hear was her harsh, horrible voice accusing Kaitlyn of some crime she had no idea she’d even committed. _You all think you’re so special..._

It was stupid and silly, but the confrontation with Marisol was all she could think about. And try as she might, Kait couldn’t quite accept Joyce’s cool explanation.

Crazy bitch is off her meds.


	15. Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kait knows what people see when they look at her (Prompt #15: Reflection)

Kaitlyn Fairchild was a witch.

At least that was what everyone at Thoroughfare High School thought, and Kaitlyn knew better than most that in high school, what other people thought was the same as truth. And everyone in her small town had an opinion of her, even though not a single one of them knew the first thing about her. But her hair was wild and fiery, her skin was nearly translucent, and her eyes were a stormy, undefinable blue.

Witch’s eyes- mesmerizing and horrible. Evil eyes. Kaitlyn heard them talk and rolled her evil eyes at their stupidity. If she was really a witch, they’d all have been cursed a long time ago.


	16. Bad Reputation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fall-out from fighting while in school. Even when the fight's not your fault. (Prompt #16: Fight)

By the time she left elementary school, Kaitlyn new most of the office staff personally. She had memorized every inch of the green vinyl chair she sat in while waiting for the principal to call her into the main office- everything from the faded armrests (the right one had some nasty words written on it. Obviously someone had tried to scour them off, but the gist of the profanity was easily gleaned from the faint remnants of ink) to the tear in the seat where the pine green, impossibly shiny vinyl gave way first to its white underside and then to masses of wispy white stuffing. She sat there an awful lot, even though the supposed victims of her "bad attitude" never had to. They had asserted that Kait was the bully, and that was enough for the principal, a pudgy woman who never even had the decency to even once accept that "they started it."

By the time middle school was finished, the office staff was beginning to be as annoyed by Kaitlyn's frequent visits as Kait was herself. They whispered about her while she sat there, apparently oblivious to the fact that their whispers weren't all that quiet. It was in the middle school office that Kaitlyn stopped worrying about what was going to happen once the principal opened the door and started becoming defensive right off the bat. If people were determined to believe she had an attitude problem, she might as well give them what they wanted.

The Thoroughfare High School mascot, a Trojan, had been painted on the white cinderblock wall opposite the chair outside the principal's office. And it had been painted badly. Not the most endearing figure to begin with (unless you were a cheerleader, Kait surmised), the mural of Tiny the Trojan seemed to shorten the cartoon's already stumpy neck, and the texture of the cinderblock made the mascot's eyes seem to cross. By the time Joyce came to save her, Kaitlyn had spent enough time outside the principal's office that she knew every brush stroke in the monstrosity, every chipped and cracked bit of paint.

On the plane, Kaitlyn thought vaguely about the portrait and knew that if she ever saw a Trojan again, it would be too soon.

Upon landing in LA, Kaitlyn's heart sank. Football was not that big a deal in California, but it was big enough to be an annoyance.

Goddamn the USC Trojans.


End file.
